Ukko Motors
The year was 1936, a young Finn born to a rich family named Joona Korhonen left for Great Britain to study to become an engineer. The young man stayed in Britain during the second world war, where he worked at a manufacturing plant making plane motors. He had become enamored with cars, and the idea of a Finnish car company to one day compete with the great British, French, German, Italian, and American manufacturers, at least in the local markets of the Nordic and Baltic countries. He came home in the summer of 1944 and began to make his first car to present to his family and their associates who could be possible investors. After gaining their approval and backing, he christened the company ‘Ukko Motors’, after his brother who stayed and fell in the winter-war.
An image of Joona taken by a paparazzi during his visit to America to personally market his cars to dealers.
1946
As Joona got his first manufacturing plant, he quickly put the car design he made over in Britain to production, and christened it the Salama, which would, later on, be marked as the PS model
Specs
Model: Salama (Lightning)
Model Year: 1946
Chassis & Engine Placement: 2.1m Steel Ladder, Steel Panels, Front Longitudinal
Suspension (f / r): Double Wishbone / Semi Trailing ArmTrim: PS (PeruS, Basic)
Trim Year: 1946
Engine: 41PR-1446 Aka. Kala-Kuha, 1.4L Inline 4, Pushrod, NA Single Barrel Single Carburettor
Engine Stats: 48 hp @ 3900 RPM, 95Nm @ 3100 RPM, Redline @ 4200 RPM
Body Type: Sedan
Drive Train: RWD, Manual 2, 127 KM/H, Open Differential
Tyres: Cross Ply, Hard Long Life, 120mm / 120mm
Brakes: Drum (SLS) 265mm / Drum (SLS) 185mm
Interior: Basic 5, No Entertainment
Aids & Safety: No Power Steering, No Traction Aids, Standard 40s Safety
Suspension: Standard Springs, Twin-Tube Dampers, Passive Sway Bars
1947
Through 1946 to early 1947, Joona showed off his cars to many of his friends, some of which found a few flaws and improvements that could be done. Including better interior, windshield wipers, a wider grille that would look better conforming against the lights, and a better bumper. He then implemented these as the new VO trim.
Specs
Trim: VO (VakiO, Standard)
Trim Year: 1947
Engine: 41PR-1446 Aka. Kala-Kuha, 1.4L Inline 4, Pushrod, NA Single Barrel Single Carburettor
Engine Stats: 48 hp @ 3900 RPM, 95Nm @ 3100 RPM, Redline @ 4200 RPM
Body Type: Sedan
Drive Train: RWD, Manual 3 , 129 KM/H, Open Differential
Tyres: Cross Ply, Hard Long Life, 120mm / 120mm
Brakes: Drum (SLS) 265mm / Drum (SLS) 185mm
Interior: Standard 5, No Entertainment
Aids & Safety: No Power Steering, No Traction Aids, Standard 40s Safety
Suspension: Standard Springs, Twin-Tube Dampers, Passive Sway Bars
1948
These images are of Joonas’ hastily made initial version of the RI, and not the one people would be able to commonly buy.
As 1948 arrived, Joonas saw a rally competition being held near where the factory and his home were and decided to join it. He took one of the old Salamas, took out its engine to replace it with a better built and more tuned version of it, and he also removed the bench seat in the rear to save weight.
He took off to join the competition, during the which while he didn’t finish first, he garnered the interest of many spectators who also owned Salamas already, and many wanted their Salama to be tuned like that of the one Joonas drove. As such, he decided to create a new trim out of this, dubbing it the RI. Joonas allowed people to bring their old Salamas to be made into RIs for a fee instead of just buying the new car.
Specs
Trim: RI (RallI, Rally)
Trim Year: 1948
Engine: 41PR-1448 Aka. Kala-Lohi, 1.4L Inline 4, Pushrod, NA Single Barrel Single Carburettor
Engine Stats: 58 hp @ 4200 RPM, 100Nm @ 3900 RPM, Redline @ 4500 RPM
Body Type: Sedan
Drive Train: RWD, Manual 3, 137 KM/H, Open Differential
Tyres: Cross Ply, Hard Long Life, 120mm / 120mm
Brakes: Drum (SLS) 265mm / Drum (SLS) 185mm
Interior: Standard 2, No Entertainment
Aids & Safety: No Power Steering, No Traction Aids, Standard 40s Safety
Suspension: Standard Springs, Twin-Tube Dampers, Passive Sway Bars
1951
A couple years passed as Korhonen made another car with his new experience. The Salama would still be sold as the budget car, but a new car would be introduced alongside it, that being the Ukkonen which comes in both PS and VO trims, the latter of which uses a new engine.
Specs
Model: Ukkonen (Thunder)
Model Year: 1951
Chassis & Engine Placement: 2.6m Steel Monocoque, Steel Panels, Front Longitudinal
Suspension (f / r): MacPherson Strut / Semi Trailing ArmTrim: PS
Trim Year: 1951
Engine: 41PR-1448 Aka. Kala-Lohi, 1.4L Inline 4, Pushrod, NA Single Barrel Single Carburettor
Engine Stats: 58 hp @ 4200 RPM, 100Nm @ 3900 RPM, Redline @ 4500 RPM
Body Type: Sedan
Drive Train: FWD, Manual 3, 139 KM/H, Open Differential
Tyres: Cross Ply, Hard Long Life, 165mm / 165mm
Brakes: Drum (SLS) 275mm / Drum (SLS) 275mm
Interior: Basic 5, No Entertainment
Aids & Safety: No Power Steering, No Traction Aids, Standard 40s Safety
Suspension: Standard Springs, Twin-Tube Dampers, Passive Sway BarsTrim: VO
Trim Year: 1951
Engine: 4IDOHC-1251 Aka. Koira-Susi,
Engine Stats: 49 hp @ 5000 RPM, 78Nm @ 3300 RPM, Redline @ 5300 RPM
Body Type: Sedan
Drive Train: FWD, Manual 3, 120 KM/H, Open Differential
Tyres: Cross Ply, Hard Long Life, 150mm / 150mm
Brakes: Drum (SLS) 275mm / Drum (SLS) 275mm
Interior: Standard 5, No Entertainment
Aids & Safety: No Power Steering, No Traction Aids, Standard 40s Safety
Suspension: Standard Springs, Twin-Tube Dampers, Passive Sway Bars
